A comprehensive score reflecting memory‐related fMRI activations and deactivations as potential biomarker for neurocognitive aging

AbstractOlder adults and particularly those at risk for developing dementia typically show a decline in episodic memory performance, which has been associated with altered memory network activity detectable via functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). To quantify the degree of these alterations, a score has been developed as a putative imaging biomarker for successful aging in memory for older adults (Functional Activity Deviations during Encoding, FADE; Düzel et al., 2011). Here, we introduce and validate a more comprehensive version of the FADE score, termed FADE-SAME (Similarity of Activations during Memory Encoding), which differs from the original FADE score by considering not only activations but also deactivations in fMRI contrasts of stimulus novelty and successful encoding, and by taking into account the variance of young adults’ activations. We computed both scores for novelty and subsequent memory contrasts in a cohort of 217 healthy adults, including 106 young and 111 older participants, as well as a replication cohort of 117 young subjects. We further tested the stability and generalizability of both scores by controlling for different MR scanners and gender, as well as by using different data sets of young adults as reference samples. Both scores showed robust age-group-related differences for the subsequent memory contrast, and the FADE-SAME score additionally exhibited age-group-related differences for the novelty contrast. Furthermore, both scores correlate with behavioral measures of cognitive aging, namely memory performance. Taken together, our results suggest that single-value scores of memory-related fMRI responses may constitute promising biomarkers for quantifying neurocognitive aging.

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The miR-21 potential of serving as a biomarker for liver diseases in clinical practice

Biochemical Society Transactions ◽

10.1042/bst20200653 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 48 (5) ◽

pp. 2295-2305

Author(s):

Jiawei Zhang ◽

Dandan Li ◽

Rui Zhang ◽

Peng Gao ◽

Rongxue Peng ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Clinical Practice ◽

Liver Diseases ◽

Hepatic Disease ◽

Noninvasive Detection ◽

Diagnosis And Prognosis ◽

Expected Performance ◽

Potential Biomarker ◽

Disease Condition ◽

Complex Regulatory Network

The role of miR-21 in the pathogenesis of various liver diseases, together with the possibility of detecting microRNA in the circulation, makes miR-21 a potential biomarker for noninvasive detection. In this review, we summarize the potential utility of extracellular miR-21 in the clinical management of hepatic disease patients and compared it with the current clinical practice. MiR-21 shows screening and prognostic value for liver cancer. In liver cirrhosis, miR-21 may serve as a biomarker for the differentiating diagnosis and prognosis. MiR-21 is also a potential biomarker for the severity of hepatitis. We elucidate the disease condition under which miR-21 testing can reach the expected performance. Though miR-21 is a key regulator of liver diseases, microRNAs coordinate with each other in the complex regulatory network. As a result, the performance of miR-21 is better when combined with other microRNAs or classical biomarkers under certain clinical circumstances.

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Triglyceride to high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio, total cholesterol to high density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio and low ankle brachial index in an elderly population

VASA ◽

10.1024/0301-1526/a000348 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 43 (3) ◽

pp. 189-197 ◽

Cited By ~ 10

Author(s):

Yiqiang Zhan ◽

Jinming Yu ◽

Rongjing Ding ◽

Yihong Sun ◽

Dayi Hu

Keyword(s):

High Density Lipoprotein ◽

Total Cholesterol ◽

High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol ◽

Ankle Brachial Index ◽

Density Lipoprotein ◽

High Density ◽

Lipoprotein Cholesterol ◽

Lipid Lowering ◽

Cholesterol Ratio ◽

Potential Biomarker

Background: The associations of triglyceride (TG) to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol ratio (HDL‑C) and total cholesterol (TC) to HDL‑C ratio and low ankle brachial index (ABI) were seldom investigated. Patients and methods: A population based cross-sectional survey was conducted and 2982 participants 60 years and over were recruited. TG, TC, HDL‑C, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) were assessed in all participants. Low ABI was defined as ABI ≤ 0.9 in either leg. Multiple logistic regression models were applied to study the association between TG/HDL‑C ratio, TC/HDL‑C ratio and low ABI. Results: The TG/HDL‑C ratios for those with ABI > 0.9 and ABI ≤ 0.9 were 1.28 ± 1.20 and 1.48 ± 1.13 (P < 0.0001), while the TC/HDL‑C ratios were 3.96 ± 1.09 and 4.32 ± 1.15 (P < 0.0001), respectively. After adjusting for age, gender, body mass index, obesity, current drinking, physical activity, hypertension, diabetes, lipid-lowering drugs, and cardiovascular disease history, the odds ratios (ORs) with 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) of low ABI for TG/HDL‑C ratio and TC/HDL‑C ratio were 1.10 (0.96, 1.26) and 1.34 (1.14, 1.59) in non-smokers. When TC was further adjusted, the ORs (95 % CIs) were 1.40 (0.79, 2.52) and 1.53 (1.21, 1.93) for TG/HDL‑C ratio and TC/HDL‑C ratio, respectively. Non-linear relationships were detected between TG/HDL‑C ratio and TC/HDL‑C ratio and low ABI in both smokers and non-smokers. Conclusions: TC/HDL‑C ratio was significantly associated with low ABI in non-smokers and the association was independent of TC, TG, HDL‑C, and LDL-C. TC/HDL‑C might be considered as a potential biomarker for early peripheral arterial disease screening.

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